Dear readers,

Every May, EP professionals congregate for the NASPE meeting. This year, the meeting is being held May 14-17 in Washington, DC. I hope all of you will have a chance to show your colleagues this month s special issue. I encourage you to stop by our booth as well.

This month we are able to bring you some very special features. In our Industry Interview, I spoke with Dr. Mazher Jaweed from the Physician Research Network. In our conversation, we discussed the new HIPAA standards, which just went into effect on April 14. Please check out this in-depth article on how to apply the revised guidelines in your EP lab and also in clinical research activites.

In addition, I am pleased to be able to offer you continuing education credits. Dr. Laurent Macle has provided an article on pulmonary vein recordings and the mapping and ablation of atrial fibrillation. Please turn to page 26 for more information and instructions on submitting your test.

Lastly, look for our two accompanying supplements in this month s issue. The first is titled Current Ablation Products and Techniques for the EP Lab, and features articles on new treatments using ablation. The second supplement offered is entitled 2003 University Spotlight: New Techniques in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmia. Articles in this supplement focus on cases from university hospitals such as UCSF, UCSD, and Johns Hopkins.

I hope to see all of you at this year s NASPE meeting. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see in upcoming issues!

Thanks for reading!